1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The object of the intervention is an arrangement for storage, as well as a warehouse rack and handling machine particularly for such arrangement.
2. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Currently, various types of arrangements are in use for storage, which arrangements comprise shelf systems made of warehouse racks, and machines packing goods from and to such shelf systems. According to the simplest version, a shelf system includes shelves on columns, where the columns and shelves define compartments. Goods are packed on the shelves usually in boxes or on pallets by means of a handling machine operating in aisles between warehouse racks.
Apart from manual work, the simplest case is that the handling machine is a forklift truck, by means of which the operator lifts the lift-fork to the desired height in front of the desired compartment and uses it to lift out from the compartment the box or pallet together with the goods in or on it, then lowers the lift-fork and forwards the goods to the desired location.
Furthermore, automatic storing systems are known, where computer controllable handling machines are installed in front of warehouse racks, which machines are capable of moving sideways, as well as upwards and downwards, and which lifts out from or places into the desired compartment the goods determined by the control, and in case of lifting them out, it puts down the out-lifted goods to a designated location.
A deficiency of the known systems is that only one handling machine can carry out fully efficient work in front of one warehouse rack only because they cannot bypass one another, and apart from a few exceptions, the operation of two handling machines at the same time between warehouse racks standing opposite each other is not feasible due to the usually small distance between them.
Another deficiency of the known systems is that the higher the warehouse, the more difficult it is to create an appropriate handling machine, moreover, to the end of quick service, in larger warehouses, handling machines have to be designed to be highly efficient and to operate fast, otherwise the average time of handling goods from the desired location to the desired compartment or from the desired compartment to the desired location is unacceptably long, which cannot be allowed in warehouses with great traffic and operating with many kinds of goods.
Due to the above reason, it is desired to the develop an arrangement for handling which allows that one rack is serviced by multiple handling machines at the same time, preferably in such a manner that they interfere with the operation of each other as little as possible.